Seiko, founded in 1881 by K. Hattori, is a Japanese word meaning exquisite or success. The first wristwatches from Seiko started to reach the market by 1924, and in 1969, they introduced the Seiko Astron, the world’s first quartz watch, it heralded the start of the ‘quartz crisis’ for Switzerland which ultimately saw many long standing firms go out of business. Seiko was instrumental in changing the face of the Swiss watch industry forever. The brand makes a comprehensive range of watches from the entry level Alba range costing under $50 to the Credor Juri GBBX998 costing over $500,000. The brand has introduced some notable world firsts including kinetic watches driven purely by physical energy, the Seiko Spring Drive, a remarkably accurate part mechanical, part quartz driven movement with 72 hours power reserve, and most recently the Astron Solar GPS, capable of automatically changing the time from one time zone to the next. Seiko enjoys a huge following worldwide for its reliable and well-designed quartz and automatic watches.